Dramatica Pro 4.0

Invest a little time and study in Dramatica Pro before sitting down to write your masterpiece. This software is a wonderful aid for any writer, but it will not write your script or novel for you. The hard work is still down to you.

Dramatica Pro is an amazing story development tool and I highly recommend it to other writers, whether you are a beginner or a professional, Dramatica will be the best writing partner you'll ever find. It has revolutionised the way I develop, analyse and write stories. It's intuitive, versatile and assists me at any stage in my writing. This is the only programme around that effortlessly turns a beginner into a professional writer and a professional into a great writer. It's now part of the approach I use to teach my students storytelling. No matter what you're writing, a novel, a screenplay, a teleplay or stage play, Dramatica Pro will add a new dimension to your work and understanding of story.

DramaticaPro probably has some good points and no doubt would help a lot IF I COULD SEE IT!!!The screen resolution is so bad that I contacted the company to find out how to get larger fonts on the screen and they told me it couldn't be done!!!!I adjusted the screen resolution of my computer in an attempt to be able to read the blasted thing and that helped a bit. But I really don't want giant letters in all my apps just so I can read DramaticPro.Also, I went to the charater part [again] to do a little homework on a story I'm writing and found it way too restrictive. It has several character types but in the world of fiction, there are many more than DramaticaPro knows about. Plus, its terminology is obscure and specific to its theory. But, that is not especially helpfulWhat a shame, it promises so much and doesn't really deliver. A small cheap program that I used in the past is called StoryBuilder. It was a better choice as a simple way to organize index cards -- but alas -- now that Windows is into the XP phase, that softward doesn't really work anymore.

If you expect to answer questions as to pigment type, oil drying time, the size of the canvas, and subject matter--don't expect a Rembrandt--or a novel either. You may find yourself disappointed as I was...You see, I fully expected Dramatica Pro v.4 to be expert software. By definition, expert software gives some answers, much like a calculator. For example, if I enter 2+3 I should get an answer of 5. This software merely, merely, prints that I entered two values of "2" and "3" and that I must find the answer myself...Duh!Where will it switch fore-story and back-story orders for effect? Where are does it alert me to character issues? Does it even insert all of your characters? Where can I change characters (in the same role) during the course of an epic? Does it boldly suggest a storyweaving? Does it calculate chapters, analyze development, critique or figure anything at all to help me write?No. I don't need expensive computer software to ask me how many chapters I wish for my novel and then just make me write them in. I can do that with pencil and paper.

As a new user, DRAMATICA PRO 4 feels like an elaborate system of thinking created to help you, the writer, better structure your story. Keep in mind, you must have an idea for a story beforehand, as DRAMATICA will force you to think about it in more ways than you thought possible or necessary. It's a good thing...with sweat trickling down your forehead as you scramble to answer the many, MANY questions regarding your project...you're unknowingly rounding out your story in ways you probably normally wouldn't.I spent about two days trying to enter all the descriptions it was pressing for and I still hadn't completed the entire process. In the end, I actually abandoned the DRAMATICA system and just wrote the darned story from scratch...but I think that was only possible, really, because I had thought about all the angles to my story through the DRAMATICA PRO system.I was disappointed at the fact that DRAMATICA PRO is "old" software, circa 2000 (when the registration asks for "what year" you purchased it, "2001" is the latest year possible), and there's no Mac OS X support. It does run in Classic mode, however.It seems like it could be a very valuable tool, but it demands a healthy investment both in your time and in your understanding of its theory. I would only recommend the monetary investment if you're committed to the mental one.

I was just looking for formatting software when I came across Dramatica Pro and decided it was worth a closer look. I found the demo for the program at write-bros.com, and due to other reviews, also tried the WritePro demo. I found that Dramatica Pro helped me to do all the things I try to remember to do when I'm putting together a story, and it makes it so much easier to reference, add and change things down the line. I'd have given this 5 stars if there was a module for character naming and dialogue working. Of course then it would be a total crutch. I emphatically did not like WritePro, I found it much more confining, more like a writing class than a tool to create and work on my own stories. From write-bros.com you can demo Dramatica Pro, Hollywood Screenwriter, Movie Magic Screenwriter, StoryView and Writer's DreamKit. WritePro you can demo from writepro.com, but they have no demo for FictionMaster which looks like a good program.If you are more the old fashioned type and don't want or need help creating and writing your stories you can try WriteItNow (writeitnow.com) It has a demo too. The CD costs about $44 and its bound to be slow, it comes over from the UK. I wish that was available from Amazon.com or Amazon.com.UK but it's not.

Dramatica provides a tool to use the most sophisticated story model ever developed. The dramatica model is surprisingly general and adds quite a bit of force to your story without constricting creative freedom. Some structures, like a ladder, provide more freedom, not less, and Dramatica's structure is like that.If the idea of following the dramatica story model still seems formulaic to you, you are free to tweak it or change it as much as you want, or even use it's best ideas to form your own model. The point is that a sophisticated model produces a sophisticated story.The software is actually quite easy to use. The hard part is learning the model, because it is quite sophisticated. It will take a few weeks to get it, and probably a couple of tries to make it really work well for you. You can also get help from the community of dramatica users on the internet, who are supportive and friendly.If you're the kind of author to employ both a creative and analytical side to your craft, you will learn to love this tool. You'll hate how hard it makes you work, exploring every nook and cranny of your story in new ways, but you'll love the result as it pushes you into forming characters and plot rich with dramatic tension, thematic development, and thorough development of your story.